Year in Reverse: Racing's top moments, July through December

The 2014 racing season should be remembered for a long time, not least of all for the tragedy and change that accompanied another year of outstanding accomplishments by competitors. We’ve combed through our 365-day archive and condensed it down into this quick-hit review. Here's a month-by-month rundown of 2014. This is July-December.

July

July 1: Organizers of Formula E, the all-electric race car series set for a Sept. 13 debut in Beijing, unveils its “Fan Boost” system. The system will allow fans to vote online before each race to determine which three drivers will be allowed one 90-hp boost during the race.

July 1: Caterham F1 team principal Tony Fernandes sells the financially troubled team to a group of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.

July 2: Haas Automation partners with Scuderia Ferrari for a sponsorship deal that will run Haas Automation’s logos on the sidepods of Ferrari F1 cars through the end of the 2015 season.

July 2: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone says four-time champion Sebastian Vettel would be a nice fit at Ferrari if his 2014 frustrations with underperforming Red Bull cars continue.

July 5: Juan Pablo Montoya, who has returned to open-wheel racing after a seven-year run with Ganassi Racing in NASCAR, wins the IndyCar pole at Pocono for Team Penske, with a track-record pole speed of 223.871.

July 6: John Force notches his 140th career win in NHRA Funny Cars when he outruns Ron Capps in the final round of the NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

July 6: Juan Pablo Montoya wins the Pocono IndyCar 500. It’s his first major open-wheel win since 2000 when he won a CART race at the Gateway oval in St. Louis.

July 7: NASCAR’s nine largest Sprint Cup teams form the Race Team Alliance, designed to help teams create business opportunities. Organizers say it is not designed to become a lobbying group against NASCAR.

July 9: Robert Clarke, former head of Honda Performance Development, is named pro racing president of the Sports Car Club of America.

July 13: Morgan Shepherd, 72, takes out Joey Logano in a crash during the Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Shepherd, the oldest starter in NASCAR Cup history, says the crash had nothing to do with his age. Some other drivers disagree.

July 17: Caterham F1 confirms the layoffs of at least 50 employees.

July 17: Reports out of Europe confirm that American businessman Gene Haas has paid a $20 million deposit to confirm his Haas F1 Team’s entry into the sport.

July 19: Tony Stewart races a Sprint Car at Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Mich., one night after winning a Sprint Car feature at Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Mich. The weekend’s activity marks the first time Stewart races Sprint Cars since breaking his leg in a crash at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in August 2013.

July 27: Roush Fenway racing confirms that Cup Series driver Carl Edwards will leave the team after the 2014 season. Edwards has been with the Cup team since 2002.

July 28: F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says that a proposed F1 race for New Jersey will not happen before 2016. It is just the latest time the race, originally planned for 2013, is postponed.

July 30: NASCAR docks Denny Hamlin 75 driver championship points -- the largest points penalty in the Chase era -- and team owner Joe Gibbs 75 owner points for aerodynamic violations discovered in a post-race inspection at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Crew chief Darian Grubb is fined $125,000 and suspended for six weeks, meaning he will be lost to the team until the Chase for the Sprint Cup’s opening weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in September.

Aug. 2: Bernie Ecclestone agrees to a $100 million settlement to end his high-profile corruption case in Munich. All charges will be dropped.

Aug. 6: An air ambulance employee arrested in connection with the suspected theft of Michael Schumacher’s medical records is found dead in his Zurich jail cell.

Aug. 9: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and team owner Tony Stewart, racing a Sprint Car at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York, hits and kills fellow driver Kevin Ward Jr., 20. Ward exited his car and was approaching Stewart, who was still under power. Stewart’s right-rear tire hits Ward, sending him more than 20 feet down the track.

Aug. 13: Red Bull Racing confirms 16-year-old Max Verstappen has joined its driver development program. Rumors persist that Verstappen may be in line for a 2015 F1 ride with Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Aug. 15: Jeff Gordon’s Chevrolet SS posts a record speed of 206.558 mph in the third and final NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Michigan International Speedway. The speed tops the one Kevin Harvick posted (204.557) in June, and is NASCAR’s fastest pole speed since 1987.

Aug. 16: A merger of single-car teams owned by Ed Carpenter, Wink Hartman and Sarah Fisher is announced. The team will be known as CFH Racing and will provide two cars for the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2015. It will be based in Indianapolis using the new race shop used currently by Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.

Aug. 20: Caterham signs Audi driver and Le Mans 24 champion Andre Lotterer to race for the F1 team in the Belgian Grand Prix. He ultimately completes only one lap due to powertrain trouble.

Aug. 21: Past Cup champion Brad Keselowski wins his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Keselowski’s truck, however, fails postrace inspection for having a rear spoiler that measures too high. NASCAR allows the win to stand.

Aug. 21: IMSA follows NASCAR’s lead and creates a rule to ensure drivers remain -- if safety allows -- in their cars after crashes. The rule is in response to the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward Jr. Sprint Car tragedy.

Aug. 24: Denny Hamlin is taken out by Kevin Harvick during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol. Hamlin responds by throwing his HANS device at Harvick.

Aug. 24: Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo wins the Belgian Grand Prix, but the real story is at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton exits after just two laps following contact with teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton contends the contact was intentional.

Aug. 29: Tony Stewart faces the media and delivers a prepared statement to the media regarding the death of Kevin Ward Jr. Stewart says the incident will affect him forever. He takes no questions.

Aug. 30: IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin is seriously injured in a crash that occurs during final practice at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. He suffers fractured ribs, a broken right clavicle, a concussion and chest injuries. He is admitted to the hospital and listed in serious but stable condition.

Aug. 30: Tony Kanaan wins IndyCar’s finale in Fontana, Calif., as Team Penske’s Will Power finishes ninth -- good enough to clinch his first series championship after several years of heartbreak in title shootouts. His triumph marks the first IndyCar championship for Team Penske since Sam Hornish Jr.’s 2006 title.

Sept. 1: Alexis DeJoria wins the Funny Car class at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis to become the first woman to win three Funny Car events in the same season. She also becomes the third woman to win a U.S. Nationals event in a nitro class. Richie Crampton wins in Top Fuel, Shane Gray in Pro Stock.

Sept. 3: The Haas F1 Team says that it has signed a multiyear technical partnership with Ferrari. Ferrari will provide Haas with powertrains, gearboxes and overall technical support.

Sept. 5: IMSA names now ex-IndyCar Series race director Beaux Barfield to the same position in the Tudor Series.

Sept. 7: Caterham F1 team principal Christian Albers resigns.

Sept. 9: The FIA announces a ban on radio communications from the pits to F1 drivers regarding how to drive the cars. The rule is ultimately postponed.

Sept. 9: Michael Schumacher is transported from a French hospital to a medical facility constructed at his Swiss home.

Sept. 11: The Ontario (N.Y.) County Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation into the death of Kevin Ward Jr. and sends its findings to the district attorney.

Sept. 13: Richard Petty/Ford NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose says he’s leaving the series at season’s end to return to V8 Supercars in Australia.

Sept. 13: The Pirelli World Challenge series concludes its 25th anniversary season at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park. Cadillac’s Johnny O’Connell clinches the drivers’ championship as Cadillac secures the manufacturers’ crown. Both championships mark three in a row for O’Connell and Cadillac in an increasingly intense and compelling series.

Sept. 16: IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin is released from a California hospital after his crash at Auto Club Speedway.

Sept. 20: Cole Custer, 16, wins the NASCAR Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to become the youngest winner of a major NASCAR race.

Sept. 21: Stephen Cox of Decatur, Ind., dies at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center as the result of a crash at Kentucky Speedway on Sept. 14. Cox was participating in a Rusty Wallace Race Experience program.

Sept. 24: The Ontario County (N.Y.) grand jury votes not to bring charges against Tony Stewart for the death of Kevin Ward Jr. in a Sprint Car accident Aug. 9 in upstate New York. The 23-person panel took less than two days to determine that district attorney Michael Tantillo hadn’t produced enough evidence to hold Stewart responsible for Ward’s death.

Sept. 26: Despite not being charged, Tony Stewart says he has no plans to return to Sprint Car racing.

Sept. 29: IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud says he will leave Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at season’s end and drive for Team Penske in 2015.

Oct. 1: The Sauber F1 team releases driver Simona de Silvestro from her position as associate driver.

Oct. 3: Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel says he will leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2014 season.

Oct. 3: Max Verstappen, who turned 17 years old on Sept. 30, makes his official F1 debut in a Friday practice session in Japan.

Oct. 6: Dodge says it will end its participation in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. The two-car SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R team two days earlier at Petit Le Mans clinched the GT Le Mans-class drivers’ championship (Kuno Wittmer) and the teams’ championship.

Oct. 7: IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe signs with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, filling the void left from Simon Pagenaud’s move to Team Penske. Hinchcliffe had been with Andretti Autosport.

Oct. 14: Value of GoPro stock falls almost 10 percent after a report says a GoPro camera may have contributed to injuries suffered by Michael Schumacher in a December 2013 skiing accident.

Oct. 15: Randy Lanier, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, is released from the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Fla. Lanier, 60, had been incarcerated for 27 years and was serving a life sentence without parole for marijuana trafficking.

Oct. 16: Ferrari F1 team confirms Fernando Alonso will leave the team at season’s end.

Oct. 24: One day after its staff is locked out of its factory, Caterham F1 gets permission to miss upcoming races in Texas and Brazil.

Oct. 25: Marussia becomes the second F1 team to pull out of the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin.

Nov. 2: In quite possibly the most spirited fight of the 2015 NASCAR season, Jeff Gordon takes on Brad Keslowski at Texas Motor Speedway. Keselowski and Gordon avoid any penalty from NASCAR, but two crew chiefs and four crew members from Hendrick Motorsports are fined. One crew member is suspended for three races.

Nov. 5: According to the Dover (Del.) Police Department, NASCAR driver Kurt Busch is at the center of an investigation that involves an allegation of domestic assault. The alleged victim is Busch’s ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll; she says the alleged abuse took place in Busch’s motorhome during NASCAR’s October stop at Dover International Speedway.

Nov. 5: The Red Bull Global Rallycross series season ends in Las Vegas. Joni Wiman wins the championship for the Olsbergs MSE team driving a Ford Fiesta ST. Gymkhana star Ken Block and his Hoonigan Racing squad finish runner-up, also with a Fiesta ST. Andretti Rallycross’ Scott Speed finishes the year in third, driving both a Volkswagen Polo and Beetle.

Nov. 8: At age 18, Chase Elliott becomes NASCAR’s youngest major champion and its first rookie champion with a fifth place in the DAV Nationwide Series 200 at Phoenix.

Nov. 9: Winless Ryan Newman shoves Kyle Larson out of the way on the final lap at Phoenix on his way to securing a spot in the finals for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Newman will be joined in the final four field at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.

No. 14: Caterham F1 team raises $3 million in a crowdfunding effort, and will return to race in the F1 season finale after missing two races.

Nov. 14: F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone raises some eyebrows when he says the series doesn’t need young fans to be successful. “I don’t know why people want to get to the so-called 'young generation.'" Ecclestone said. “Why do they want to do that? Is it to sell them something? Most of these kids haven’t got any money.”

Nov. 14: Matt Crafton finishes ninth at Homestead, good enough to clinch back-to-back NASCAR Truck Series championships. Crafton is the first back-to-back champion in series history.

Nov. 16: Sebastien Ogier wins the World Rally Championship’s season finale, the Wales Rally Great Britain. It is his eighth win of the 13-round season; Ogier claims his second-consecutive title for Volkswagen, which dominates the series even more than Mercedes dominates F1. Ogier and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala combine to win 12 of 13 rallies, interrupted only when both crash out in Germany, handing the win to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.

Nov. 16: Matt Hagan wins in Pomona to clinch his second NHRA Funny Car championship. Erica Enders-Stevens becomes the first woman to win an NHRA Pro Stock championship when she defeats her closest points rival, Jason Line, in the final round of the season finale.

Nov. 16: Kevin Harvick holds off Ryan Newman in Homestead, Fla., to win the final race in the 10-race Chase and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Nov. 16: Caterham F1 team administrator announces 230 staff layoffs.

Nov. 17: Word from the U.K. is that Jack Cottle, 22, the man who inexplicably drove his girlfriend’s VW on to the Brands Hatch circuit during a Fun Cup race in June, pleaded guilty to “causing a nuisance to the public,” and was sentenced to eight months in jail.

Nov. 19: The family of F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who suffered severe head injuries in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, say the driver is no longer in an induced coma. However, Bianchi remains unconscious and has been moved to a hospital in Nice, France.

Nov. 23: Lewis Hamilton survives a double-points final race of the season and wins the F1 championship for Mercedes ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg is no factor in the finale as car trouble dogs him throughout the race.

Dec. 1: Ex-F1 driver Mark Webber, now driving for Porsche in the WEC, is released from a Brazilian hospital after a dramatic crash during the WEC finale. He sustained a concussion in the crash.

Dec. 2: A.J. Foyt is released from a Houston-area hospital following triple bypass heart surgery on Nov. 12.

Dec. 3: The Grand Prix Drivers Association files a report in the Jules Bianchi crash. It says that the French driver “did not slow sufficiently” and “over-controlled the oversteering” Marussia car prior to hitting a crane.

Dec. 4: F1 scraps the controversial double-points rule for the 2015 season finale.

Dec. 4: F1 ratifies rules to set minimum age and experience requirements for drivers. Going forward, a driver must be at least 18 and have at least two years in a sanctioned F1 feeder series.

Dec. 5: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is named NASCAR’s most popular driver for the 12th consecutive year.

Dec. 8: Darrell Wallace Jr., who won four NASCAR Truck Series races this season and finished third in the standings, is granted a release from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Dec. 11: McLaren F1 announces that past Formula One champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will race for the team in 2015. Kevin Magnussen, a rookie for McLaren in 2014, is demoted to test driver.

Dec. 13: Former Formula One driver David Coulthard wins Race of Champions in Barbados.

Dec. 15: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Brian Vickers says he will miss the start of the 2015 season after undergoing heart surgery.

Dec. 16: Sprint announces that it will be ending its sponsorship of NASCAR’s premier series at the end of the 2016 season.

Dec. 16: 20 of the 64 stolen trophies from Red Bull Racing are found in a lake.

Dec. 17: Google announces that Michael Schumacher is the most-searched-for athlete on the Internet.

Dec. 18: Ford insiders confirm that a new Ford GT will race at Le Mans with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2016.

Dec. 19: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is sued for $422 million by a German bank stemming from this past summer’s bribery trial in Munch.

Dec. 19: Bernie Ecclestone is confirmed as CEO for Formula One for 2015. He is also returned to the F1 board.

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